Montco woman charged with homicide for DUI crash that killed man, 72

NORRISTOWN — A litany of charges, including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, have been filed against a Montgomery County woman in connection with a car crash that took the life of a 72-year-old Conshohocken man in August.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman announced the charges Thursday against Meredith Williams-Earle, 30, of Bryn Mawr. The charges also include reckless endangerment.

On Aug. 6, just before 10:30 a.m., Lower Merion police responded to reports of a serious accident at the intersection of Spring Mill Road and Morris Avenue in the Bryn Mawr section of Lower Merion. At the scene, police identified the lifeless body of Winston Staats, a Conshohocken man, found trapped and pinned beneath his overturned flower delivery van.

Ferman said Williams-Earle had a combination of prescription drugs and alcohol in her system when she ran a stop sign and T-boned the driver’s side of Staats’ van, which was turning onto Morris Avenue. A 2-year-old child was in the back seat of Williams-Earle’s car and taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

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“In this particular case, the combination of drugs and alcohol, and then the distractions in the car, made her completely incapable of operating safely,” Ferman said. “She didn’t just risk other peoples’ lives, she took the life of an innocent man and endangered her child in the process. It just shows the magnitude of the situation.”

Police said they detected a strong odor of alcohol coming off Williams-Earle and spotted a plastic cup on the passenger-side floorboard. Laboratory analysis confirmed her blood-alcohol content was 0.098 percent, and the prescription drug Ativan was also found in her system, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

“The issue with drugs and alcohol is that so many people think that if I have a little bit of this, a little bit of that, it’s not going to impact the way that (they) drive a vehicle,” Ferman said. “The reality is that it does, even little bits can.”

When police interviewed Williams-Earle at the hospital, she reportedly told them she had taken Ativan the night before and still felt “dizzy” when she awoke that morning. According to the affidavit, she said a friend had advised her that alcohol reverses the effects of Ativan, and so she drank some leftover champagne.

Police said the child’s car seat in the Prius was improperly installed and loose-fitting in the back seat. A post-crash inspection revealed that Williams-Earle’s Prius was traveling at about 42 miles per hour when it struck the van.

Williams-Earle was arraigned Thursday before Magisterial District Judge Henry Schireson in Narberth, and a preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 17 in his courtroom. She was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.